Axial Cone-Beam Reconstruction by Weighted BPF/DBPF and Orthogonal Butterfly Filtering

The backprojection-filtration (BPF) and the derivative backprojection filtered (DBPF) algorithms, in which Hilbert filtering is the common algorithmic feature, are originally derived for exact helical reconstruction from cone-beam (CB) scan data and axial reconstruction from fan beam data, respectively. These two algorithms can be heuristically extended for image reconstruction from axial CB scan data, but induce severe artifacts in images located away from the central plane, determined by the circular source trajectory. We propose an algorithmic solution herein to eliminate the artifacts.

The solution is an integration of three-dimensional (3-D) weighted axial CB-BPF/DBPF algorithm with orthogonal butterfly filtering, namely axial CB-BPF/DBPF cascaded with orthogonal butterfly filtering. Using the computer simulated Forbild head and thoracic phantoms that are rigorous in inspecting the reconstruction accuracy, and an anthropomorphic thoracic phantom with projection data acquired by a CT scanner, we evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithm.

Preliminary results show that the orthogonal butterfly filtering can eliminate the severe streak artifacts existing in the images reconstructed by the 3-D weighted axial CB-BPF/DBPF algorithm located at off-central planes.

Integrated with orthogonal butterfly filtering, the 3-D weighted CB-BPF/DBPF algorithm can perform at least as well as the 3-D weighted CB-FBP algorithm in image reconstruction from axial CB scan data.

The proposed 3-D weighted axial CB-BPF/DBPF cascaded with orthogonal butterfly filtering can be an algorithmic solution for CT imaging in extensive clinical and preclinical applications.